There are a number of good reasons people haven't been that enamored by Allo since Google released it, not least that the company simply has too many messaging apps. One of the biggest issues at launch was the lack of a desktop or web client. How else could we get away with chatting to each other while at work without our boss finding out? That was rectified last month with the introduction of Allo for web, but it still lacked a few features from the app. A couple more of those have just made their way on to the web version.

As a WhatsApp user, I can say the lack of a web client has definitely stopped me adopting Allo more widely, other than to test it out. That's a shame because there's a lot I like about it. Google seems intent on slowly building up the functionality of the web app, though. With the latest update, we can now shout and whisper by clicking and holding on the send button and dragging up or down, just like we've always been able to in the app. The usefulness of that is debatable – I tend to do it more by accident when I hit send than intentionally – but it's good to see the feature set reproduced.

The other new addition is called Smart Smiley, which is the little 'emoji with a magnifying glass' icon you see in the options next to the send button. While Allo already offers contextual emoji suggestions right below the last message, clicking this button gives you yet more suggestions for emojis, plus stickers and GIFs, too. So you can type a search query directly into the message box and hit the Smart Smiley button to get a bunch of options. It's pretty neat, and now you can do it on the web as well as in the app.

You can access Allo for web by visiting allo.google.com/web and signing into your account by scanning a QR code with the Allo app on your phone. Now all you have to do is persuade your friends to switch over from [insert name here] and actually use Allo with you. Best of luck with that.

Can attach more file types on the web version too now. Before was limited to image files, but you can send PDFs and Office docs.

Łukasz Ordon

Only me has a problem with Allo for web not connecting to phone when it's on mobile Internet? It can connect when I am on the same WiFi network, but not when mobile is using LTE...

Is that a bug or is it working as intended?

CD RW

it's a bug

It works perfectly for me

Cakefish

I need some Pixel 2 leaks in my life. I want to know about the camera.

Jordan L

I was just thinking that. Where are all the leaks?! I hope they use the latest Sony cam sensor, and incorporate the high frame rate slow motion. (highly doubtful, as only about .1% of people care about slow motion at all)

oh and on topic; Allo Web is great. use it every day.

Cakefish

I need to decide if I'm buying the iPhone 8 or Pixel 2 and honestly it all comes down to which has the better camera. I'm tempted to just preorder an iPhone this Friday. Without any fresh leaks of Pixel 2 my ability to resist buying a new phone is waning.

I've been using Allo on the web since it started with no issues. I actually like it. I just wish there was a tablet app to go with it so I can message from my tablet at home.

Paul_Werner

If you load the Allo site on your tablet it'll at least let you use it but it doesn't notify you if you are in another app like an app would (at least it didn't for me on mine)

JSo

No, I tried it and it doesn't act like a normal app. Although my phone is close enough on a charger across the room I can hear the notification from it and then just pick up my tablet. But even then, the Allo web on my tablet seems a little slow to sync and just slow overall. Could be because I'm using a Nexus 10 though too. lol

Wow I love Allo (use it all the time still), but they really half assed the GIF web integration. It's now hidden at the end of the scrolling bar. AND they don't enlarge when scrolling through particular gifs. They're tiny as hell! I can't read what they say before sending them! Grrrr

Just glancing at the picture, it appears they missed the part where everybody is using different screen sizes and some people can't read the tiny text. There are better ways to present a shout or a whisper. This is a sad attempt at creativity.

yeah now you can shout at Google assistant... lol
Still only chrome, no SMS, not working without phone phone. DOA.

dcdttu

Can it add cloud storage of messages so we don't have to use the crappy phone-relay services it currently uses?

Ionut Claudiu Danet

For me is not working if "Block This VPN" is ON, Allo for web can`t connect to the phone.

CD Andrews

I miss Google Wave

Matt Hoendorf

Glad they're polishing this so much... All 0 of my friends that use it will be happy too.

Тарас Мукин

Having a custom ROM with smaller amount of system apps -- just before reading this article I deleted Allo from my phone.

Sadly -- I don't see any use of it for me or even any potential use. None of my contacts (I have a lot of them for some reason) showed up in Allo in over a year. None of the features interested me. One thing I had it for was messaging Assistant -- but regular assistant now supports text input.

So -- goodbye Allo for me. Same as Google+.

whynot7474

"How else could we get away with chatting to each other while at work without our boss finding out?"

Wouldn't a phone work better for that? Not to mention the web app is blocked at my work.

Serious question....how many people actually use this? I would, I just don't really know anyone else that would. 95% of the people I know have iPhones, so I feel I would just be messaging myself if I used Allo.

José Villegas

Allo works on iOS if you didn't know...

Humanman

Really hard to tell when no one else we know uses it. Even when people show up in your allo contacts, they still don't actually use it.

whynot7474

Yeah, I know. I would also bet that there is only a fraction of a percent of iOS users that use Allo.

William Ross

Everyone I use it with has iPhones. They tend to like it quite a bit.

Iamsecond

Not interested until Allo updates to include a single person I know

misphit_917

Google needs to consolidate all their messaging apps into one Mega app!